Register a death

What we provide

Deaths should be registered in the district in which the death occurred. We register deaths that occur in Bracknell Forest.

All deaths should be registered within 5 days, unless a coroner is investigating the circumstances leading to the death.

A death cannot be registered until a medical certificate of the cause of death has been issued. This is issued by the family doctor or hospital doctor or by the coroner if a post-mortem is to take place.

In cases where it is necessary to have a post-mortem, the coroner's office will contact you to tell you that you are able to arrange an appointment with the register office and will send the necessary paperwork directly to the register office so that you can register the death.

In some cases after post-mortem the coroner can initiate an inquest into the death if the cause of death is found to be not of natural causes or is a sudden unexpected death.

For more information about what to do when someone dies, see the GOV.UK website.

Death declaration

If more convenient, you are able to make a death declaration at any register office in England or Wales.

The register office will complete the declaration and send the documents to the register office in the district where the death occurred. You would have to wait for the required forms to be issued by the registration district after the receipt of the declaration which could cause delays in dealing with the deceased's funeral arrangements and estate.

Tell us once

When you book an appointment, you can request to use the tell us once service.

Using tell us once means the register office can help you to notify all of the people that need to know about the death.

You just have to tell us once and then we will contact all of the government departments and local council services on your behalf.